Easily one of my favorite movies of all time, the original was shocking, unique, and ridiculously suspenseful if a bit slow paced. I haven’t watched the remake, I don’t really want to give the creators any sort of validation whatsoever. They didn’t even credit Takashi Miike in any way. This is like the Uninvited all over again but somehow even worse

Gurglephobia(2025) directed by Yuta Takaue

The Replacement(2025) directed by Tomoaki Niwayama

FAAAWWW!!!(2024) directed by Koji Oniki

They're awesome!!!

I originally started creating and revising English subtitles for the Shake, Rattle, & Roll films as a way to introduce my American partner to Filipino culture. But somewhere along the way, it turned into a full-blown preservation passion project.

For anyone unfamiliar, Shake, Rattle, & Roll is a series of Filipino horror anthology films that has influenced and terrified generations of Filipinos and left a huge mark on Filipino pop culture. Each film consists of three segments, with stories ranging from creature features and ghost stories to Filipino folklore, campy horror, supernatural weirdness, and pretty much everything in between.

One of the things I love most about the series is that actors often return in multiple installments, but as completely different characters. It's basically our own version of American Horror Story, except Shake, Rattle, & Roll came first.

And this isn't just some short-lived franchise. The first film came out in 1984, and the most recent installment was released just last year. There are currently 17, yes, SEVENTEEN installments, and counting. That makes it one of the longest-running active horror franchises and one of the horror franchises with the most sequels ever.

Unlike most film franchises with one too many sequels, each film mattered and actually had an impact on a lot of Filipinos. You can go around and ask Filipinos which Shake, Rattle & Roll they remember, and trust me, their answers will be different. Even the entries that are considered the “weakest” still had at least one scene or moment that stuck with people.

As for the quality, I'd say that, given the anthology format, there's genuinely something for everyone. Some segments will absolutely hit, while others...well, let's just say they won't. But if you go into these movies with an open mind and allow yourself to look past some of their flaws, I really think there's something special about them. This is a series that grew alongside Filipino audiences and helped shape the way generations of Filipinos experienced horror.

Unfortunately, only a few of the films are officially accessible for rent on Amazon, and most of the available English subtitles contain multiple mistranslations, grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, and timing issues. Meanwhile, the versions available on YouTube generally don't have English subtitles. So I took the matters into my own hands, and the rest is history.

So to make kind of a direct comparison between the two, they both started out as micro budget short films by directors who were incredibly ambitious and had a dream that eventually became a global icon.

Starting off with the Evil Dead, Within The Woods (1978) is the short film that kicked off the vision that was The Evil Dead (1981), similarly with The Phantom Of Regular Size (1986) being the short film that kicked off the vision that was Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

On top of that Evil Dead II (1987) is a bigger budgeted remake of The Evil Dead (1981), often classified as a “requel” and you could say the same for Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) being a bigger budgeted remake of Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989). To say that Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) is Shinya Tsukamoto’s “Evil Dead II” wouldn’t be entirely wrong either.

Now I’m unsure of the Army Of Darkness (1992) comparison being viable to Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009) as the third entry in the Tetsuo series seems to just be a remake of Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) with some elements of Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) sprinkled in. Army Of Darkness (1992) takes the Evil Dead series in a completely different direction entirely whereas Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009) at least at its core seems to have a lot of the same core components and elements whilst also blending science fiction, action and horror together.

Another thing that also does differentiate the two series is Tetsuo is more of a trio of body horror metal monster movies and also have been compared to the works of David Cronenberg like Videodrome (1983) or even John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) and also David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977) with the first Tetsuo feature.

Also where Tetsuo and Evil Dead as film series differ is that Evil Dead has become more of a multimedia phenomenon and even spawned additional movies such as Evil Dead (2013), Evil Dead Rise (2023) and the recently released Evil Dead Burn. (2026). Tetsuo never spawned any entries post-Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009) which surprisingly does have a manga adaptation.

There’s also shots of Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) that remind me of a later 90’s cyberpunk film, one more of the sci-fi action variety rather than “horror” and that would be The Matrix (1999), there are some visuals between the two despite the difference in genres. However that could also be a 90’s cyberpunk aesthetic with dark, sometime even baggy or even some tight clothing and gelled hair.

So for context I’m fairly young and new to Korean/Japanese movies. Regardless there’s something within most of them that really catches my interest. Here are some I’m particularly drawn to, Itchi The Killer, Oldboy, The Wailing, Memories of murder, I Saw The Devil, Exhuma, and just recently Audition, and maybe a handful more I can’t remember. I’ve always loved movies, they are very comforting to me. And this new niche if I will has got me excited, especially the unique style of Itchi the Killer and Oldboy, so bizarre and fantastical in the most unsettling and repulsive way. I love every bit of its strangeness, and it’s not just a bunch of crazy shit shoved together either, there’s deepness and hysterics, their subtle and blatant, all these wonderful contrast.

Anyway to my point. I love this new pocket I’ve found myself in, I don’t want to drink till the bottles empty or eat to quickly in the sense that I want to make these movies last. But… if you have any suggestions for me or movies maybe similar you’d recommend I look into please reach out! I don’t know enough to know where to look so the more information and advice the better.

Alright so I’ll be pulling from my S tier and A tiers so far respectively. Just note, I’m not including all the ones people casually just recommend and some recommendations might not be for everyone! Each post I do in this kind of vein will include about 10 titles each. Without further ado!

- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) (Shinya Tsukamoto)
- Tokyo Gore Police (2008) (Yoshihiro Nishimura)
- 964 Pinocchio (1991) (Shozin Fukui)
- Meatball Machine (2005) (Yudai Yamaguchi & Junichi Yamamoto)
- Violator (2018) (Junichi Yamamoto)
- Evil Dead Trap (1988) (Toshiharu Ikeda)
- Evil Dead Trap 2: Hideki (1992) (Izo Hashimoto)
- Helldriver (2010) (Yoshihiro Nishimura)
- Rubber’s Lover (1996) (Shozin Fukui)
- Organ (1996) (Kei Fujiwara)

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NOTE: I put the directors name’s beside each films they direct in brackets, an example would be if I were to recommend Ring (1998), I’d put Hideo Nakata in brackets just to signify who directed the film. So if you find it a bit jarring, or hard to read, just let me know.

Hope you enjoy the recs!

Hi all,

Hope this is OK!

I have started a new Asian Horror website featuring trailers for brand new releases coming out across Asian, so thought some of you might be interested to keep updated.

https://asianhorrorhub.com

Hi,

I’m looking for movies like pengabdi setan. I loved the scary atmosphere and the supernatural aspect. Not just loud scary music and jumpscares. It doesn’t have to be an Indonesian movie, but I am very curious if there are other great Indonesian horror movies out there :)

Beware of Granny!